The Devastation in Gaza and Flaws in the Pro-Hamas Stance
The Times of IsraelNov 06, 2023
Gaza Death Toll Exceeds 10K as IDF Says Territory Essentially Split in Two
Image copyright: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
In 31 days of unrelenting Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip — in combination with a blockade on food, water, fuel, and medicine — the territory's health ministry said on Monday that upwards of 10K Palestinians have now been killed since Oct. 7. Thousands more are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
Air strikes on Gaza in the last 24 hours were reportedly the most intense they'd been in any day since the bombardment campaign started, according to reporting from the Guardian. This comes as Israeli forces continued to use the cover of strikes for a ground operation in the territory.
The Spin
Pro-Israel narrative
While the images depicting the destruction in Gaza, alongside the high number of casualties, as a result of Israeli air strikes may be distressing, they need to be put in the context of other wars. Wars are inevitably destructive, and this one was started by Hamas and Israel was forced to respond to a catastrophic terror attack.
Pro-Palestine narrative
While Hamas' attack on Israel cannot be condoned, that does not justify Israel's response in which it has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians — the vast majority of which have no affiliation to Hamas. This is collective punishment on the Palestinians and it needs to be called out.
Nerd narrative
There is a 50% chance that Israel will recognize Palestine by November 2059, according to the Metaculus prediction community.